Wednesday, November 26, 2014

To paraphrase a long
time professor at NC State,

“When all things are
failing, go back to the last place you were successful and start again.”

This seems simplistic,
but how often do we follow it. We allow the failures and successes to become blinders
for our future.So how do we objectively
define where our last place of success was? What defines the value of that
success? It is our greatest accomplishments such as completing college, or
landing that job we were striving for, buy the home we dreamed of, or our
children and their achievements? Maybe they all have a part in defining our
success.

This idea has been
rolling around in my head for almost 6 months. Why can’t I just go straight
back to that point and begin a “Do Over”? Or not just re-examine my choices,
change my answers, and tweak my life’s direction. I have had plenty of failures
and successes. But no matter how hard I pondered, I could not put my finger on
the one spot as my “last place of success”. What am I looking for? I tried
making a list of good choice on one side and bad on the other, thinking that
would clear things up. Not really.

As I watched a movie
recently, a light bulb came on.This
movie, the Bucket list, which I’m sure, many of you have seen, simplified the
process for me. Morgan Freeman asks Jack Nicholson two question.

Do you have Joy in your life?

And

Do
you bring Joy to others?

I think this search is
not about a place in time or a major event that happens to us; rather it’s
about the quality of life. We all need joy in our lives. Not matter if it is as
basic as the laughter we enjoyed as teenagers, or the simple happy feeling that
comes when you taste grandma’s fried apple pies, or that smile from a loved one
that let’s you know how much you are loved. My mission on this island and when
I come to return. That is to find joy.

To quote the great Jimmy
Valvano:

If you laugh, you think,
and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days
a week, you're going to have something special.